With a host of projects to complete for clients, how do you capture your ideas?
A platform I use is software for mind mapping is Mindgenius as you can integrate your mind map into a Word document, a PowerPoint presentation,save as a PDF or even a web page.
But what if you have a limited budget or are not sure that mind mapping is right for you - are there free online tools that you can use?
Here are a few that I’ve found and have registered for:
Flowchart.com - an online multi-user, real-time collaboration flowchart software - at the time of writing this article I have applied for an access code as Flowchart is in Beta but have not received it as yet.
Spinscape.com - offers a free and paid for version (to collaborate with others you need to use the paid for version). I didn’t find this the easiest of mind mapping software to be able to use though there are video’s you can watch on how to use the service. I also did not seem to be able to export the test mind map I created in a format of a mind map (it printed as a list not a map) when I exported my mind map to PDF using the free version of Spinscape - this is a screen shot I took of the mind map I created.
Bubbl.us - definitely worth exploring as a free service. While the interface is not as sexy as some websites I’ve come across, the mind mapping was really intuitive and only took a few seconds to get started. You can email a link to a friend to ask them to collaborate on the mind map with you. You can export the mind map as a PDF or even access the embed code to add it to your blog or website. And it’s easy to change the colours and print out your mind map.
So as you are planning your next project and have a team you are working with, why not consider mind maps as a way to outline the project. And with free online tools like Spinscape and Bubbl.us available you can even collaborate online wherever you are in the world and don’t have to be tied to your own PC or laptop.
What free online mind mapping software do you recommend?
October 27th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Mindmapping is a great way to evaluate and grow ideas, and it’s great that someone is making the internet a place to map your thoughts. I still prefer to map my thoughts on paper because I find it easier to work with my ideas that way, but online ways have to work for some people, right?
November 19th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I find online mindmapping very useful and I use Mind Meister - http://www.mindmeister.com/
It has a free service with a few limitations but overall I find it works well.
November 22nd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
January 5th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Aha! Another MindGenius user!
I see a lot of MindJet users around the Net but less of this fine Scottish company’s product in action (although they apparently sell a ton of licenses to company and government users.)
Online collaborative mind mapping could be a very powerful coaching tool for clients who are strong visual learners - and I am keeping a watch on that emerging market.
I’ve used mindmapping in my own business planning - especially for starting off big projects with many loose ends.
Two other uses I put MindGenius to:
1- I created the graphics in my career coaching site by drawing some relevant and simple mind maps, screen capturing them and then exporting into a suitably sized jpeg file.
Here are some of them. What do you think? Good? Nah?
http://techcareerzigzag.com/clients.html
2- I recorded a ‘live’ (no editing of each video) video of a mindmap I created to coach people in setting incredible yet reachable goals - and used Camtasia s/w to capture my computer screen with the mindmap. Worked pretty well.
The cool thing was I could add the supporting notes to each mind map lesson into MindGenius between takes, and then export all of them into a MS-Word document at the end.
This formed the draft transcript notes for the video course (since people are unlikely to watch nearly 3 hours of online video more than once). Though I did make a CD version too
You can see a sample video from the course by following the links here: http://techcareerzigzag.com/products.html
Yes, mind maps rock! I recall the day back in the mid-80s when I was trying to teach a group of 6th formers what I knew about pen and paper mind maps as a note taking tool at the time.
Don’t think I did a very good job because they all reverted to taking pages and pages of linear notes verbatim from textbooks - ugh!
January 5th, 2009 at 5:51 pm